Research your own action while you are in it

Study your present action while you are in it, and let what you notice feed back into what you do next.

Pourquoi ça marche

Torbert (2013) says first-person research is most at home as research on one’s present activity, because it can feed back instantly on one’s actions. He contrasts this with the after-the-fact study typical of third-person research. On this page’s reading, the point is to let what you notice shape the next move while the action is still under way, which is the contrast Torbert draws with after-the-fact study.

Comment faire

1. Pick one action you are taking today, such as a message or a decision in a meeting.
2. Before you act, write one line about what you are about to do and why.
3. Partway through, pause and note what you actually observe in yourself and in the situation.
4. Let that note shape the next move.
5. Afterward, compare what you wrote with what happened and note the gap.

Données probantes

Torbert (2013) illustrates first-person research on one’s own practice with a practitioner’s written account of his woodcarving, offered as an example of the method. It is an illustration, not a study of outcomes. (anecdotal)

A single practitioner’s account with no comparison group. It shows what the method looks like in use, not that it works better than other approaches.

Sources

• Torbert, W. R. (2013). Listening into the Dark: An Essay Testing the Validity and Efficacy of Collaborative Developmental Action Inquiry for Describing and Encouraging Transformations of Self, Society, and Scientific Inquiry. Integral Review, 9(2), 264–299.

Erreur fréquente

Writing the observation down so you can be right about yourself later, instead of letting it change your next move.